Nothing can go faster than light. It’s a rule of physics woven into Einstein’s theory of special relativity itself. The faster something goes, the closer it gets to the prospect of time standing still.
Go any faster and you run into problems with time reversal, messing with concepts of cause and effect.
But researchers from the University of Warsaw in Poland and the National University of Singapore have now found a system that goes beyond the limits of relativity and may even lead to new theories that don’t contradict existing physics.
What they found was an “extension”. special relativity” which combines three dimensions of time into a single dimension of space (“1+3 space-time”), as opposed to the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time that we are all used to.
Rather than creating any major logical inconsistencies, this new research adds more evidence to support the idea that objects can travel faster than light without completely violating our existing laws of physics.
“There is no good reason why observers moving with respect to physical systems described at speeds greater than the speed of light should not obey it.” says physicist Andrzej Draganfrom the University of Warsaw, Poland.
This builds on new research previous work By some researchers who claim that superluminal perspectives can help unify quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory special relativity – two branches of physics that cannot be reconciled into a single general theory that describes gravity the way we currently explain other forces.
Particles can no longer be modeled as point-like objects in this framework, as we can in the more conventional 3D (plus time) perspective of the universe.
Instead, we must turn to the field theories that underpin quantum physics to understand what observers can see and how a superluminal particle might behave.
Based on this new model, superluminal objects would appear as a particle expanding like a bubble in space—as opposed to a wave traveling through the field. A high-velocity object, on the other hand, will “experience” several different timelines.
However, the speed of light in a vacuum will remain constant even for observers traveling faster than it, which preserves one of Einstein’s fundamental principles—a principle previously thought to apply only to observers traveling slower than the speed of light. (like all of us).
“This new definition preserves Einstein’s postulate of the constancy of the speed of light in a vacuum, even for superluminal observers.” Dragan says.
“Therefore, our extended special relativity does not seem like a particularly extravagant idea.”
However, the researchers admit that while the transition to a 1+3 spacetime model answers others, it also raises some new questions. They suggest that special relativity needs to be extended to include faster-than-light reference frames.
This may involve borrowing quantum field theory: a combination of concepts from special relativity, quantum mechanics, and classical field theory (which aims to predict how physical fields will interact with each other).
If the physicists are right, all the particles in the Universe would have extraordinary properties in extended special relativity.
One of the questions raised by the study is whether we will ever be able to observe this extended behavior – but that will require more time and more scientists to answer.
“The mere experimental discovery of a new fundamental particle is a Nobel Prize-worthy feat and can be accomplished in a large research team using the latest experimental techniques.” says physicist Krzysztof Turzynskifrom the University of Warsaw.
“However, we hope to apply our results to a better understanding of the phenomenon of mass-related spontaneous symmetry breaking of the Higgs boson and other particles. Standard Modelespecially in the early Universe.”
The study was published Classical and quantum gravity.
